


no stone unturned

by dotdotmoon



Series: trans!exo fic [4]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Cats, Children, M/M, Past Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Oh Sehun, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Warlocks, Witches, difficult conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23770969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dotdotmoon/pseuds/dotdotmoon
Summary: Sehun's kidstealsadopts a black cat on Halloween night. He hopes its owner understands the concept of finders keepers.
Relationships: Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Oh Sehun
Series: trans!exo fic [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1762672
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	no stone unturned

**Author's Note:**

> alright!! dusted off this one too. it's not really a seho, more of a post-sesoo? hope that makes sense.
> 
> (this fic features a trans man who had a child. idk why anyone would but please do not refer to it as mpreg. thank you for being considerate.)

Sehun does a double-take, the pile of picture books in his arm tilting dangerously when he turns to get a proper look at a _missing_ poster on the bulletin board near the entrance. He's not surprised their kid managed to ~~steal~~ adopt some warlock's cat. (He knows himself, after all.)  
They've had Mulyo for weeks, and Junmyeon had done a great deal of asking around, calling shelters and vets, insistent that a cat this pitch-black could not belong to an ordinary person. It's simply a terrible affair whenever Junmyeon is right. Sehun's not looking forward to the smug remarks, the cloud of told-you-so, cuddly, likely cat-shaped mist hanging in the air for days.

It's not like they had a choice, he thinks. No one would deny a black cat of all creatures shelter, not on Halloween of all nights. Just because Junmyeon shed all his witch manners the second he passed the exams, doesn't mean Sehun lost all semblance of his own.

His phone is too deep in his pocket to snap a picture of the phone number, and he really only has two fingers free between the pile of books and the wallet bulky with pictures and ticket stubs, so he awkwardly peels the poster with Mulyo's picture on it off. He misses his bus when he's about to figure out how to fold it and spotted by an older witch who immediately declares him helpless and pities him so much for the loss of his cat they put the poster back up for him.

Sehun is not in the mood to spoil a stranger's enthusiasm, so thanks them for the help, keeping his face carefully mild, walks out of the community centre, hides behind a tree until they're out of sight and returns to snatch up the poster. The phone number is vaguely familiar, and it only hits him on the bus home who it belongs to, along with the cat. It's very like him not to change his number for . . . six years, Sehun counts out on his fingers.

"I don't think this cat even likes you," Sehun says. He's scowling over at the stove where his family is busying themselves with laughing at a pot to cheer up the stew. He still wants to ban Jongin from their kitchen for introducing the concept to their kid, but he cannot deny their food tastes happier like that. Mulyo is sitting on Junmyeon's shoulder, not bothering to acknowledge Kyungsoo's existence.

"That's the least of my worries." Kyungsoo looks exhausted, although he has a comfortable air about him, is in loose black clothes, with a buzz cut that makes him look softer than Sehun has known him. The memory of how sullen Kyungsoo used to get whenever he dressed up is still present, and Sehun's glad he's stopped treating himself like a doll to make a certain impression in public.

"Nice little family you got yourself there," Kyungsoo says suddenly, studying the ceiling and its collection of stains and bumps.

"What bit you that you became so condescending?" Sehun asks. He's not in the mood for having an ex pick his life choices apart.

"Sorry." Kyungsoo laughs, dryly, presses fingers into the skin above one of his eyebrows until his skin turns white under them. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm glad for you, really. You seem—"

He struggles, albeit more sincere now, and Sehun lets him, finally settles on the couch across from Kyungsoo, right in his line of sight. He shouldn't have told Kyungsoo to come over whenever even though he's home all day; he'll miss out on dinner at this pace.

Kyungsoo makes a small sound, like he's giving up on more than finishing his sentence, and sinks some more into the armchair. It's a good thing Junmyeon cleansed it a few days ago or his butt would be halfway to hell. "Life is wild right now. I just cleaned out a closet at work to sleep in. All of my roommates moved out on me, now I can't afford the rent anymore." He clears his throat, nods in the general direction of the kid. "Do they have a name already?"

"Still undecided," Sehun says automatically, hung up on picturing the first time he found Kyungsoo in his closet, fast asleep, unmoving. Warlock sleep habits under stress always threw him for a loop. "They're only five. I picked mine at ten, and again at twenty-two."

One year after he left Kyungsoo, a few months after he had his kid. It's usually not hard to talk about, a side effect of the endless repeats—yet something claws at his throat, like he could make up for the lack of trust he had in Kyungsoo back then. It burns, how easy it is still to think in _after Kyungsoo_ , after all these years.

Kyungsoo knows better than to ask him for his name, or bring up his first one—Sehun had only given his family name when he texted him—but he looks him over, for the first time since he knocked on the door earlier, with a gaze so careful, unobtrusive like he doesn't want to scare Sehun off, like he had any clue how some people looked at Sehun. "Was that why you left?"

Sehun wets his lips. There isn't an answer that would fit into a sentence, or this room. "I found out after." He lets the rest go unsaid. Kyungsoo certainly did the math, and if he doesn't bring it up now, it must be fine with him. He never considered Kyungsoo to be someone to care about fatherhood, much less biological fatherhood.

"I was so used to loving you, I didn't know what to do with myself," Kyungsoo says then, quiet, only for Sehun to hear, although Junmyeon's long pushed the kitchen door closed. Kyungsoo's hands are resting on his knees now, nails digging into his kneecaps.

It jolts Sehun out of his thoughts, rips the lid off the memory of the night he decided to break up and leave. He feels like his own 21-year-old self for a moment, lost, anxiety scorching his insides—and still ripping the rug from under both of their feet.

There's a sigh, and Kyungsoo says, "I really shouldn't have come over today, I'm a mess. I put up a single poster hoping no one would see it." He laughs, uneasy, makes fists, lets them drop onto his knees repeatedly.

Sehun breathes out, forceful, to empty his lungs and thoughts of the lingering guilt-turned-regret. He doesn't regret a single choice he made, and he needs more time for this, for Kyungsoo. "I think you should go home," he says, not unkindly but with vigour. "Will you call me tomorrow?"

When they realise Junmyeon is standing in the room, by the couch, kid on one arm and the cat on the other, the room seems to brighten.

"Invite your friend for dinner, we have enough for everyone," Junmyeon tells Sehun with some hesitance. It's obvious he meant to say it earlier, feels how out of place it is now.

"He's a ghost," Sehun says and turns back to look at Kyungsoo. "You know I can't sleep with ghost traces around the house."

Kyungsoo makes a face like he heard a bad joke but he plays along, lets his aura wobble.

"I've never touched a ghost. Can I touch you?" the kid asks. Sehun couldn't feel more accomplished as a parent when they're not automatically reaching out.

"I'm afraid not," Kyungsoo tells them. "I can put my leg through this table, would you like to see that?"

A nod, and he stretches out his leg, his foot transparent as it comes up through the table's surface from below, and both Junmyeon and the kid yell _no feet on tables_.

Kyungsoo's smile looks the very same and yet like an entirely different person's, and it gives Sehun a wavering sense of hope. They'll talk, he thinks as he meets Kyungsoo's eyes, maybe meet up again after a few phone calls, maybe not. They'd been too much to each other, and he's never stepping foot on that path again.

"Will you take care of the cat for me?" Kyungsoo asks the kid, watching them reach to pet its head with clumsy but gentle hands.

They stare at him like he's tried to tell them the sun was a gigantic ice cube floating in the sky. "Mulyo is my cat," they say. "It came to live with me."

"We should honour its decision then," Kyungsoo simply replies. "Sehun, see me to the door?"

They both pretend not to hear the kid inquiring about Kyungsoo's sense of direction as Sehun follows him to the door in silence. Kyungsoo's posture is achingly familiar, and he can see the cat hair on his hoodie in the bright light of the glas-panelled hallway. There's a tattoo on the side of his neck, just under the hairline, and Sehun blinks in vain several times to unblur it.

"You don't want the cat back?" he asks when Kyungsoo pulls out a scarf to wrap around his neck.

Kyungsoo doesn't pause to think. "Someone gifted it to me, and we never got along. You don't need any of my supplies, do you? I have . . . a lot."

Sehun dares to think he knows him well enough, still, to know he took good if not great care of it, but the relief is visible on Kyungsoo's face. "We're good," he says. "Junmyeon—my boyfriend, his parents run a pet supply shop."

Kyungsoo doesn't comment, pulls on his boots after he's tucked his scarf up high enough to cover his ears.

"I have a friend who's looking for a roommate," Sehun recalls, calls after him the moment Kyungsoo is almost out of their garden and on the street. "A wood siren. Quiet and very clean. Do you want their number so you can ask about the catches yourself?"

He gets nothing more than a nod, but the tentative smile framing it is enough.

**Author's Note:**

> i found mulyo on a dubious list of korean cat names. it claimed it means "free", and it does, but apparently not in the sense of liberated but free as in "left on the curb for free". that makes it a perfect kid's cat name.
> 
> thank you for reading, please let me know how it made you feel!!  
> i rarely reply to them due to mental health issues but: comments keep me writing.
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/dotdotmoon) | [cc](http://curiouscat.me/dotdotmoon) | [listography](https://listography.com/dotdotmoon)


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